Share trader held for killing, chopping up debtor's body

MUMBAI: Less than 12 hours after human body parts were found floating in the septic tank of a residential building in Virar, the police arrested an MSc-maths degree holder as the alleged killer. Police say that on January 16, Pintu Sharma (42) slaughtered his friend Ganesh Koladkar (58) for not repaying a loan, cut his body into more than 200 pieces and flushed the bits down the toilet. The victim's bones and skull were put in plastic bags and dumped along railway tracks, though these are yet to be recovered.


Sharma has been remanded in a week's police custody by the Vasai court. It emerged later that he was also wanted in an abduction case registered with Valiv police last year.

Police said that Koladkar, a bachelor who lived in Mira Road, and Sharma, a resident of Vakola, had become friends a year ago when they met at the victim's printing press. Six months later, Sharma, who dabbles in shares, loaned Rs 1 lakh to Koladkar. A few months later, Koladkar returned Rs 40,000. According to DySP Jayant Bajbale, Sharma wanted the balance but Koladkar started evading him.

On January 16, Sharma somehow traced Koladkar and persuaded him to visit Virar, where Sharma had taken a flat at Bachraj Paradise, Global City, Virar (west), on January 1. Police said that once inside, Sharma killed Koladkar by banging his head on the floor (the accused disputes this claim). He then used a hacksaw blade to cut the body into pieces.

Police said Sharma took over five hours to separate flesh from bones. He flushed the bits of flesh down the toilet on January 16 and returned to his Vakola home, where he lives with his wife and two children, said officer Bajbale. "So far, we have recovered over 30kg of flesh from the septic tank and a nullah behind the complex. It has been sent for forensic examination," said Bajbale

Sharma returned to the Virar flat over the next two days to process the bones and skull. Police said he told them he cleaned up and left with the remains in plastic bags, which he threw out of a moving train.

The murder came to light on Tuesday when residents complained of a choked pipeline. Workers found fingers floating in the tank, after which the police were called.

After checking a few flats in the building, Police gained entry to Sharma's flat using a duplicate key and found blood stains, signs that there had been a cleanup and a hacksaw blade. After finding out who rented the flat, police phoned Sharma, who took the call and reached the flat around 11pm on Tuesday. He confessed to the crime after five hours of grilling. He told police he had not planned to kill Koladkar. On January 16, when Koladkar arrived at the Virar flat, he told Sharma he intended to get married. When Sharma joked that he had passed his prime, Koladkar got annoyed and started to leave, when Sharma pulled him back. At this, Koladkar fell on the floor face down and was dead on the spot, Sharma told police. He said he panicked and did the rest using a blade that was already in the flat. A case of murder has been registered against Sharma.